Dark blue tree with deep roots without leaves. Almost full circle around the above ground tree in mustard yellow

Author Helen Parker -Drabble Who Do I Think You Were?®

  • Books
    • A Victorian’s Inheritance
    • Victorian Family Recipe Book
    • Yet A Childs Triumph
  • About
  • Articles
  • Coming Soon
    • Mary: The woman behind a personal Victorian recipe book
  • Factual talesMy factual tales are a tapestry of fact, researched speculation and fiction which are inspired by and embellish my family history. However, the plots are driven by the historical records.
  • Media
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  • An Hour a Month: Children’s Hospital Visiting Rules Before the Platt Report

    An Hour a Month: Children’s Hospital Visiting Rules Before the Platt Report

    ‘Yet’: A Story of Triumph over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability Article Community History Family History From Helen Parker-Drabble Social history

    One hour, once a month: how British hospitals kept sick children apart from their parents before the Platt Report, and the boy who watched the clock.

  • The Directory and the Child: what a survey of Britain’s orthopaedic institutions kept, and what it left out

    The Directory and the Child: what a survey of Britain’s orthopaedic institutions kept, and what it left out

    ‘Yet’: A Story of Triumph over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability Disability History Family History From Helen Parker-Drabble Social history

    A 1935 directory of Britain’s institutions for ‘crippled’ children, and the boy it would send to King Edward VII Hospital, Sheffield: what the records kept, and what they left out.

  • Childhood Hospital Separation: ‘I Want My Mummy’

    Childhood Hospital Separation: ‘I Want My Mummy’

    ‘Yet’: A Story of Triumph over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability Article From Helen Parker-Drabble

    For decades, many British hospitals kept sick children apart from their parents. This article looks at childhood hospital separation, James Robertson’s films, the Platt Report, and what family historians can recover from the silences in hospital records.

  • Forgotten Children Bovine TB: Hidden History Wins Award

    Forgotten Children Bovine TB: Hidden History Wins Award

    ‘Yet’: A Story of Triumph over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability From Helen Parker-Drabble Social history

    There is a particular satisfaction in receiving recognition for work that is not really about you. ‘Yet’ recovers the story of the forgotten children of bovine tuberculosis. Hundreds of thousands of British children were hospitalised for months, sometimes years, in the era before effective treatment existed. When I learned the book had been awarded Runner-up…

  • Dear Dad

    Dear Dad

    From Helen Parker-Drabble

    Writing Dad’s book has kept him close since his death in 2022, but I’m entering another phase of my grief. I miss our conversations so much that I decided to write him a letter. How do you manage your own losses? Dear Dad, I want to tell you why I’ve chosen to publish your story…

  • Listen to Harry’s Story: A Long‑Stay Child Patient’s Journey of Resilience and Hope

    Listen to Harry’s Story: A Long‑Stay Child Patient’s Journey of Resilience and Hope

    From Helen Parker-Drabble

    The podcast discusses “Yet”: A Story of Triumph Over Childhood Separation, Trauma, and Disability, focusing on the author’s father, Harry Drabble, and his experiences as a long-stay child patient in Sheffield due to bovine tuberculosis. It highlights his resilience and the importance of preserving these children’s stories through a Kickstarter pre-launch campaign.